Adventure
by TigersDemon
Summary: Eragon, Arya, and Saphira are sent on a mission into the desert. What are they looking for? What will they find? Who will they meet? Read and find out. ExA Contains OC. Post Brisingr.


"Arya, would you please bring Eragon and Saphira to me? I would like to talk to the three of you." asked Nasuada pleasantly.

Arya paused as she was about to exit Nasuada's command tent. "Of course, Nasuada." She tilted her head as if listening to something a great distance away. "He is on his way as we speak."

It was only a matter of minutes before the voice of one of the nighthawks could be heard out side the tent.

"Eragon Shadeslayer and dragon Saphira to see you Lady Nightstalker."

"Enter."

Eragon walked into the tent with all the unnatural grace the dragons had given him, though not with the same amount as a natural born elf. Still, it was a rather striking sight. He inclined his head and twisted his hand in the elves gesture by way of greeting as Saphira stuck her head through the opening.

"A few days ago I asked Jeod as to the whereabouts of the ancestral home of the dragons, as I recall it being mentioned. He said that he would see if anything could be found in one of his books." Stated Nasuada as Eragon and Arya merely nodded and Saphira blinked.

"He has discovered evidence of it being in the hottest part of the Hadarac desert, which I assume is close to the center. As such I wish to send you three to search for anything that might be of use to us." A moment of mildly shocked silence followed, and right on its heels came the expected onslaught of questions.

"To what end is this going to be used?" asked Arya with unexpected force.

"I hope to find something of use that was missed during the fall of the riders and take-over of the empire by Galbatorix."

"But what if Murtagh and Thorn come back to attack you? How are you going to defend yourselves from them?" exclaimed Eragon. The thought of him returning from this harebrained scheme only to find that the Varden had been destroyed was almost too much for him to bare. "This is folly my Lady, and you well know it"

"I know no such thing. Also, we will not be completely defenceless; I will be asking the other elves to stay here, as Arya will be there and is able to protect you well enough for them to be at relative ease. Besides, you will only be gone for a week and not much can happen in that time that you can't assist us with as you will only be about a day and a half's dragon ride away from us."

_Saphira?_ Asked Eragon.

_I believe her choice to be a good one, besides; we can use every advantage we get over our enemies._ Saphira had obviously broadcast her answer to every one in the room, as Nasuada looked triumphant and Arya had a hard, blank look on her face that said she could not find a way to argue with a dragon's almighty logic.

She sighed. "Alright, I will go, but I still think this is a fools gambit" Eragon slowly nodded his agreement with her statement.

"Excellent. I have already discussed this with Queen Islanzadi and she agrees with my choice to send you. I am giving you the rest of the day to prepare yourselves for your search and expect you to leave at dawn." She waved them on their way before asking a page to bring Jormundur to her.

* * *

"I cant believe you agreed with her choice Saphira. Though I should be used to it, as you seem to agree with her a lot."

Saphira rumbled her laugh. _Little one, you know she is right that we should search there now, and you know that we would have to search there eventually to look for other eldunari that might have been missed when the riders fell. If they exist outside of Galbatorix's reign they might be there, in the oldest home of the dragons. _

Eragon sighed. A dragon's logic really was infallible.

_In any case I must go and hunt if we are to leave in a decent frame of time. I also think you should talk with Blodhgarm about this, and Arya also for I think it would be a good idea to leave tonight rather then at dawn when someone might see us leave and tell someone we would rather not know of our departure._

"A very good idea, also we can have him alert us when something happens here so that we can be back in time to help. Go hunt Saphira; I will talk to everyone while you are gone."

Without another word Saphira took off toward the plain in search of deer.

* * *

Blodhgarm had been remarkably accommodating once he had been alerted to the situation and assured that nothing could happen to him with Arya there to make sure he didn't get his scull creased by some random human in the middle of the desert. Arya was also fairly agreeable on the subject of leaving early in the night rather then at dawn the next morning, though her reason seemed to be that if they left earlier, they could return earlier.

By the time dusk came they were already by the edge of the Varden camp outside Feinster on the side closest to the Jiet River, waiting for the sun to set and cover their exit with relative darkness.

"I wish the sun would set faster. This waiting is grating on my nerves." Eragon quietly complained to himself, not really wanting anyone to hear or respond to it. The sun seemed to be hanging eternally on the horizon as if it were there merely to spite him.

"Your impatiens will not make it set any faster, Eragon." Arya murmured quietly. "If anything, it will seem to set slower then before."

He sat quietly on the ground, leaning against Saphira's scaly leg as if he had all the time in the world while Arya sat on a rain barrel close by, toying with a piece of grass.

"I thought I might find you three here! You have no idea how hard it is to find you when you disappear like that. Its like trying to find a hay coloured needle in a hay stack, and that's not easy, let me tell you!" Angela and Solumbum walked out from the tents and barricade with the air of finding something impossible for others to locate. "It's nearly impossible in fact, if you really think about it…"

"You were looking for us?" Asked Eragon. If he let her continue this train of though she would most likely go looking for hay coloured needles and a haystack for her to test her theories on.

"Quiet right I was. Solum told me you were leaving so I have something for you." From within the basket hanging on her arm she produced two small silver necklaces with an odd symbol carved into a turquoise disk hanging from each. "I want you two to wear these every where you go." She handed one to Arya and one to Eragon. "I would have one for you to Saphira but I don't have near enough materials to make you one. Not that I really know how as those two were gifts."

_It is of no consequence _she said as Eragon examined his necklace with magic before he put it on. The chain was small enough that the disk of turquoise sat right in the hollow of his collarbone; Arya's sat the same.

"What are they for?" She asked. "I can find no magic in it yet it seems strangely powerful somehow."

"That, you will have to find out for yourselves. Bye!" Angela said with a wink before walking back between the barricades.

"What an odd women." Eragon mused. He looked at the skyline. The sun had sunk below the horizon, while they were distracted by talking to Angela.

"Come, Eragon. We can leave now." Arya announced as she stood up from the rain barrel.

_Then let us be off. I wish to be in the air before the sun rises if you please. _Chuckling to himself, Eragon climbed aboard Saphira's back into her saddle which already had Glaedr's eldunari tied to it, and waited for Arya to climb aboard before giving Saphira the go ahead, which she took with an amount of exuberance that only a dragon returning to the sky could express.

Eragon was starting to drift into his waking dreams when he felt something touch his back. Alarmed, he slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder, only to find the Arya had fallen asleep and it was her head that had touched his back. Uncertain how to react to this startling development, he did the only sensible thing he could think of. Nothing. He had just decided to say something to Saphira, when she started to land in a thin grove of trees with a small stream running through it.

_Are we stopping?_ He asked.

_Aye, but only for a moment_._ I would like to drink from that stream before we enter the true desert._

"Are we stopping?" Eragon jumped as Arya sat up, looking like nothing had happened in the past four hours or so.

"Only long enough for Saphira to have a drink, and then we're off again."

"I see. How far have we come?" Arya seemed completely unperturbed by any thing around her as she looked at Saphira.

_We have come farther then I had anticipated thanks to a very strong tail wind. I flew over Furnost about two hours ago. We have but a few hours before we enter the true desert. _Saphira replied as she drank. Eragon could have sworn she was trying to drain the creek. _I am ready. Let's be gone from here._

The sun had risen many hours earlier by the time Saphira decided to land in the shade of a tall sand dune. _I am done for now and I must sleep. We can continue when the sun goes down._ Saphira panted and Eragon could tell through their mental link just how tiring the last leg of their journey had been for her. Once the sun had come up, what had once been a tail wind had turned into a powerful head wind, forcing them to land later then they would have liked in order to cover the intended distance.

"I will keep first watch." Arya stated, sitting on a rock at the edge of the limited shade.

Eragon nodded in agreement and immediately fell into his waking dreams.

Arya watch him fall asleep while she monitored the land around them with her mind.

* * *

A/N

This chapter is incomplete. I only wish to know what you think of it so far, and reviews are encouraged.


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